Call him a street artist, or a graffiti artist, or an underground artist, or even a vandal, but Banksy, the reclusive Englishman who inhabits these titles, is a fascinating man, talented enough to gain a major reputation while hiding both his face and his voice, and to co-opt another director's movie, which he does in "Exit Through the Gift Shop," a title that will bring a chuckle to anyone who ever has visited a museum.
A hustling filmmaker, or a filmmaking hustler named Thierry Guetta who (eventually) goes by the nom de art of Mr. Brainwash, set out to make a documentary about Banksy and his cohorts, a group that includes Shepard Fairey, the man who devised the famous Obama-Hope graphic, and a lot of anonymous types who use names like Invader, Neckface, Coma, Swoon and Cheez. In fact, Banksy is directing Guetta, obviously enjoying the nonsense while Guetta busily sets up a scam for the gullible in Los Angeles. He collects a lot of junk, puts it in a fenced area and annunces he is selling art.
The best part of the film is watching Banksy and other guerillas doing their stuff on city streets and alleys, conquering some amazing challenges in climbing, hanging, balancing and spraying paint.
Not to be taken seriously, probably not even to be believed.
Opens today at the Tivoli
–Joe